Palo Alto: Options to increase parking supply revealed

A different kind of drought -- one that involves cars, not rain -- is plaguing the city of Palo Alto.

And while elected officials can't make it pour, they are scheduled to take action Monday on half a dozen strategies and recommendations for easing a parking shortage in the bustling downtown and California Avenue business districts.

At the top of the list is a new 240-space parking structure on Gilman Avenue, behind the post office. The five-story garage would replace 53 surface spaces at Lot G, according to a report released Wednesday. A feasibility study by Sandis Engineering pegs the cost at nearly $6.9 million.

City staff wants the city council's permission to kick off the design and environmental review process.

Additional parking garages could sprout from other publicly owned lots, according to the report. One option is to test interest in public-private partnerships that would result in at least one additional structure in both the downtown and California Avenue business districts.

The report also recommends moving ahead with a plan to expand the Urban Lane transit mall. The project would include replacing 164 surface spaces at Lot U with a 478-space parking garage. Grants from the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission could potentially help cover the estimated $19.1 million cost.

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Satellite parking on Embarcadero Road and at the Baylands Athletic Center would free up to 200 spaces in the downtown area, according to the report. Shuttle service would be an integral part of such a project.

But the $75,000 option could prove unpopular, the report notes, because it would involve more cars parking near the Baylands Nature Preserve. The number of lanes on Embarcadero Road near the Baylands Athletic Center would also be cut from four to two to make room for on-street parking.

As the parking supply increases, a fifth strategy would involve allowing people who work in the South of Forest Avenue District to purchase parking permits for the Civic Center and Cowper-Webster garages. Employees currently must park off-street on private lots where they work, at limited permit parking spaces at 800 High St. or on-street, according to the report.

Expanded permit sales could help reduce the number of workers leaving their cars in residential neighborhoods, the report notes. Anger over "parking intrusion" recently led council members to approve a citywide framework for establishing residential permit parking districts.

Lastly, city staff is looking for the council's blessing to seek proposals for technology that provides "real-time" data to drivers about the number of spaces available in a garage and allows businesses to transfer parking permits among employees. The report estimates the cost at about $300,000 per garage.

The strategies and recommendations are the culmination of nearly four years of study and concern about a dwindling parking supply in the downtown and California Avenue business districts.

WHAT: The Palo Alto City Council is scheduled to take action on six strategies and recommendations for increasing the parking supply in the downtown and California Avenue business districts.WHEN: Monday, 6 p.m.WHERE: Council Chambers, City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave.